MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- An attorney for
                  Immigration and Naturalization Service
                  employees said his clients were told to
                  destroy or conceal documents that
                  contained "anything derogatory" about
                  the Elian Gonzalez case.

                  Attorney Donald Appignani testified last
                  month that the Miami INS workers told him that "the U.S. government could be
                  breaking the law" by ordering evidence destruction, the South Florida
                  Sun-Sentinel reported in its Saturday editions.

                  He said he did not hear the alleged orders, but was told of them by the INS
                  employees. Appignani said in an interview with the Fort Lauderdale-based
                  newspaper that he doesn't know whether the allegations are true.

                  Appignani's testimony was taken for a federal lawsuit filed by Elian's Miami
                  relatives against the INS and Attorney General Janet Reno claiming the April 22
                  armed raid that removed the boy from their home violated their constitution
                  rights.

                  "Basically this is what I heard," Appignani testified. "People were instructed to
                  remove anything derogatory to the Elian Gonzalez case."

                  INS spokeswoman Patricia Mancha said Saturday she could not comment on the
                  accusations because the case was pending.

                  Appignani said he approached the attorney for the family of Lazaro Gonzalez,
                  Elian's great-uncle, about the information in November at the request of his
                  clients.

                  However, during the deposition he declined to disclose which employees told him
                  of the orders, who gave the instructions and what information the documents
                  and electronic mail contained.

                  The Gonzalez family attorney, Ronald Guralnick, said he has asked a federal
                  judge to force Appignani to disclose those details. The U.S. Attorney's Office
                  said it would support Guralnick's motion.

                  "This is a major break in the case," Guralnick said. "I'm looking forward to the
                  court's ruling ... and I'm looking forward to talking to (Appignani's) clients."

                  Appignani said in court filings that his clients fear reprisal by their employers if
                  their identities are revealed.

                  The Gonzalez family lawsuit filed last September claims Reno and the INS used
                  false statements to obtain arrest and search warrants used in the pre-dawn raid
                  that seized Elian, then 6 years old, and reunited him with his father, who took
                  him back to Cuba.

                  Elian had been in the care of the Miami relatives since he was rescued on Nov.
                  25, 1999, clinging to an innertube off Fort Lauderdale. His mother and 10 others
                  died when the boat smuggling them from Cuba to Florida sank.

                  The lawsuit claims the raid violated the family's rights of expression and
                  assembly, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and freedom from
                  the use of excessive force without due process of law.

                  It seeks unspecified compensatory damages for mental distress, physical injury,
                  and property damage, in addition to punitive damages.

                  Appignani also testified that INS employees felt an atmosphere of contempt at
                  the agency's Miami office toward Cuban Americans.

                  "That type of statement is ridiculous," said John Sheairy, chief of staff for
                  district director Robert Wallis. "The men and women for the Miami district are
                  professionals."